Storage tank



March 2, 192e. 1,575,033

J. BOWN STORAGE TANK med Dec. 11. 192s 2 sheets-sheet' 1 l n i 10 March 2 1926.

` J. BOWN STORAGE TANK Filed Dec?. 11. 1923 2 Shoots-5heat 2 tlthar myd Patented Mar. 2, 1926.

UNITED STATES JAMES BOWN, OF iDEATIi VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.

' i STORAGE TANK.

Application filed December 11, 1923. Serial No. 679,953.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES Bowan. a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Death Valley, in the county of Inyo and State of California, haveinvented a new and useful Storage Tank., of which the following a specilication.

rlhis invention relates to oil containers and more particularlyto a device for preventing and extinguishing' lire in large oil storage tanks.

Oil fires are very common in storage tank fields and a high percentage ofthe oil recovered freni the earth never comes to coininercial use because of the loss due to fires. It is therefore the primary object of this invention to reduce the fire hazard in storage fields and wherever oil is stored.

An object of this invention isto provide an oil storage tankwherein the friction is reduced to a minimum.

An object of this invention is to provide an oil storage tank wherein ani, oil fire can be readily extinguished by sufiocation of the re.

An object of this invention is to provide an easily controlled `device for use in oil storage tanks whereby the oil lire is easily extinguished without ,loss of the oil therein contained. i j i An object of this invention is to provide a structure to carry out the above objects that is of economical construction and whereby the custo1nary"donie1of thetank is eliniii nated. t y u Further objects and advantages will appear in the following` detailed description. `of the accompanying' drawings, although 1t 1s to be understood that I do not wish to limit myself to the particular construction shown in these drawingsof the preferred embodiment of this invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a section of an cil storage tank illustrating1 this inventiom the frame ture of which tank is not in place.

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof broken away.

Fig. 3 is a plan, `View of the bottoni of the storage tank taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 1. illustrating a frame structure on the bottom of the tank.

Fig. fl isl a side elevation, of the exhaust struc partly vlalves 'used in connection with this inven-v tion.

lila?. t3 a, section taken anhatanlzinlly on drical wall of the storage tank, which is riveted to the bottoni. 8 forming the body of the tank. The curved beam 9 is securely riveted to the wall El as shown at T10.

The plate 11 is adapted to ride on the oil surface and is` of concave structure shown in Figurel. In order to hold to plate 11 on the surface of the oil, I provide the following construction.

Rivcted at regular intervals on the plate `11 are the eyes 152 to which cables or wires 13` are adapted to be secured, said cables 13I being' united on a central ring 14.

The cables or wires 13 are also secured within eyes cast integral withbrackets 15, which brackets 1I arc riveted to the plate 11.` Secured to `the ring 14 is the operating' cable 16 which passes over the guide wheel 17, said guide wheel being` secured to `the beam 9, at a point near tlie'center. The cable 1 7 is also guided by the wheel 18 to the worin control mechanism 19 which con- .siste of a cable drum 20. a worm gearwheel and a, worin screw 61. to the end of which `screw `the control crank 62 is fixed. `By `this construction, the plate` 11 is easily elevated or loweredto the surface of the oil and held in the desired position.

The bracllcts 1t' are secured at regular intervals to the plate 11 and are .adapted to hold the plate guide wheels 21. Said wheels are positioned to space the plate-from the wall, and allow the plate to be easily `positioned on the surface of the oil.

Safety valves 22 are positioned on the plate 11 toallow the escapeof the gases resulting' from a fire or an explosion.` in the tank and are of the :following construction and inode of operation: i

ln Figure L1. the inner 'wall `of the valve .is indicated at .i3 and is shown vertical extension of the plate 11. The cap 9.4 of

the valve is adapted to fit closely the inner wall and is held in the position indicated by the full line in Figure t by the springs `which are adapted to be held normally at the under edge of the cap in a slot 26.

The spring members are riveted to the plate 1l. as shown at Qti, and are adapted to l tl 9st elevated against the noifiiial hcl" inl arming il@l iifhicli lll() spring is secured tothe cap 2 4 andthe plate l1., as shown.

In the upper portion of the cap 24 are the perforations 28 to allow the escape of the' vapors of the'oil to comply with the law as regulating the storage of oil in closed receptacles.

Hinged at 29 is the cover 30 of the exhaust valve 22 which is held in a closed position by the extended coil spring' 31. The cover 30 is held by the spring 3l on an asbestos washer or gasket 32 which construction provides an air-tight juncture ofV the cover on the cap 24.

To illustrate the operation of this valve, suppose a fire or an explosion to occur in the tank, the cover 30 is forced open against the pressure of the spring 31, which likewise results in the cap 24 being raised and disengagging the spring from the groove 2G. The cap is then pulled downward vby the extended spring 27' from the position shown in full lines to that shown in the dotted lines in F igure '4, *bringing the perforated portion 28 ofthe cap 22 Aover theY inner wall and substantially closing,r the perforations. The gases caused by the explosion are dispersed through the open cover into the air, after which the cover is closed by the spring:r 3l, making an air-tight closure which sufocates the fire due to the lack of oxygen, and the presence of the inert burned gases.

In order to make theclfosure of the plates on the-surface of theoil completely air-tight, I provide the followingl construction.

Mounted in a rim 33 which is pressed in a vertical extension of plate'll is a'tire 34, which is of fire proof material, (such as reinforced asbestos). The tire 34 is normally collapsed as shown in Figure l'. Flexible Vwater hose 35 are connected tothe tire 34 as shown at 36. Then a fire occurs and it is desired to sufocate the flames, the water is turned onat the valves 37 and the tire inflated which then forms an air-tight juncture with the wall 7 as clearly shown in Figure 5.

A sectional hinged ring. 38 is provided on the top. end of the vertical extension 39 of plate 1-1 `so as to allow any gases. formed by the oil, which` may be burning Aabove t'l-ie tire 34, to escape. An asbestos ring 40 is positioned on the sectional hinged ring 38 to normally close this aperture to rain and the heat of the sun.

Then an explosion occurs within the storage tank andv 4the valves 22- have thereby been blow open, oil which is burning will be blown with the gases through. the valve opening onto plate il; in order tostop the burning of this oil, I provide the following construction y Spaced at intervals. on the plate l1 are water sprays 41 having-spray caps 42 which are adapted. to throw the water onto the plate 11 as clearly shown in Figure (3. The caps 42 are linternally threaded as at 43 and are adapted to be screwed into the nipples 44, secured to the bottom of the plate ll. The caps 42 are provided with perforations 46 for spraying the water onto the plate Il. y this construction, I provide means whereby the plate 1l may be quickly flooded with water. The oil will then rise to the top of the water and will then be carried out of the overflow pipe 49 into a suitable storage tank (not shown).

The water is supplied to the spray nozzles 4l from the water main 50 located in the lbottom of the storage tank. The valve 5l controls the supply of water. ylhe spray nozzles 41 are connected by means of coupling threaded to the nipples l--i to the iiexible hose members 52 which are pref erably constructed as follows:

T he inner walll 53 ofthe hose is of rubber, with an outer wall of asbestos. The outer wall is for the purpose of assuring that the hose is not burned in case of fire in the tank which would result in breakingr the water connection to the plate. The hose is made iexible so that the plate lll may be lowered or raised to the surface of the oil in the storage tank.

The plate 11 is of concave structure to al low rain to collect in the center where it may be drained through the flexible hose 54, when the valve 55 is opened.

Then it is desired to drain the oil from the tank, it is preferable to provide a seat on the bottom of the tank for the float plate so that it will not be necessary to hold the same suspended on the cable; for this I provide a net work of supporting beams (35 located in the bottom of the storage ltank upon which' the plate may be positioned, it being obviously unsatisfactory in view of the many hosev connections and the weight of the float plate to allow the said plate to rest on the bottom of the tank.

Although, I have herein described one complete embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that various modifications may be made therein, without departing from the spirit of my invention as the same is indicated above and in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with an oil storage tank, an oil surface plate, means to position the plate from the sides of said tank, means for iolding the surface plates spaced from the` side walls of the tank, and means controllable in case of fire to close the. gap between said plate and said walls.

2. In combination with an. oil storage tank, an oil surface plate, means to position saidA plate from the walls of said tank, means controllable in case of fire to close the gap between said plate and said walls to make an air-tight connection, said latter meanscom prisinga tire.

3. In combination `with an oil storage tank, an oil surface plate, means to make an air-tight connection between said plate and the walls of the tank comprising atire, means to inflate the tire with a fluid.

4:. In combination with an oil storage tank, an oil surface plate, safety valves po sitioned on said plate, said safety valvesv comprising' a cap member, having a hinged closure and a perforated portion, means to hold said cap in elevated position, an inner portion, means to force said cap over said inner portion.

5. In combination with an oil storage tank, an oil surface plate, safety valves positioned on said plate, said safety valves comprising a cap member having a hinged closure and a perforated portion, means to hold the said cap in an elevated position to allow the gases formed within the tank to be vented through the perforations, and means for forcingl` said cap over the perfora tions in case of fire within the tank. V

6. In combination with an oil storage tank, an oil surface plate, means for flooding the oil surface plate with a fire extin* guishing fluid, safety valves positioned on said plate, such safety member having a hinged closure and a perforated portion, means for holding,l said cap in elevated position to allow a vent of the gas formed within the tank, and means for closing the perforations in case of fire within the tank.

7. In combination with an oil storage tank, an oil surface plate, means to position the plate from the side of the tank, means controllable in case of fire to close the space between the plate and the said side walls, a plurality of spaced vents positioned on said plate, and means automatically operable in case of fire to close said vents.

8. The combination of an oil storage tank, an oil surface plate, means to position the plate on the sides of said tank, means controllable in case of fire to close the space between the plate and the side walls, and means for floodingl the upperwsurface of the surface plate with a non-inflammable fluid.

9. In combination with an oil storage tank, an oil surface plate, means to position the plate from the sides of said tank, means controllable in case of fire to close the space between the plate and the side walls, a plurality of safetaT vents positioned in said plate, means fuitomatically operable in case of fire to close said vents, and means for flooding the upper surface of the surface plate with a non-inflammable fluid.

Signed at Death V alley, Cal., this 3rd day of December 1923.

JAMES BowN. 

